Horoscope
by TheSoulMustStandAjar
Summary: A serial killer is ravaging Los Angeles, brutally murdering young women between the ages of 13 and 30, though he/she seems to have a preference for high school girls. Esmeralda is a private detective who is put on the case. (Some characters are not Disney.)
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

It wasn't fall yet, but the air was already starting to get colder at night in Los Angeles, California. It was a Friday night, and the moon was nearly full. The purple sky was clear aside from the few stars that were visible above the city lights, shining weakly and winking in and out of view. All was peaceful and calm... Well, for most people. To a few, the night was chilly and foreboding, a setting that just begged for misfortune. The pale moon shone eerily, speaking as a welcome sign to the heavens.

It was on this night that three girls, all freshmen at their local high school, decided to gather for a sleep over.

"I just... I can believe they're dead." Wendy sniffled, dabbing at her sore eyes with a tissue.

"I know." Eilonwy said solemnly, staring down at her feet.

Everyone from school was in despair because just a week earlier, a group of four cheerleaders were brutally murdered during what was supposed to be a harmless girls-night-out to the movies. At school today there was an assembly held in honor of the girls, and everyone was in tears. School was let out early for the day, and now everyone would be spending the weekend mourning and recuperating instead of going out and having fun or partying.

Wendy had been crying all day, and her two best friends, Alice and Eilonwy, had been by her side the whole time. She was incredibly grateful for this; They were both more like the strong silent types. They saw crying as a sign of weakness, or it just made them uncomfortable. But whenever Wendy- who was more emotional- cried, all they did was support her and try to comfort her.

Alice, whose home they were in, came back into the room from the kitchen, where she'd gone to retrieve snacks. She returned now with a tray of goodies and a soft smile. She joined them in sitting on the floor so that their positions formed a triangle, and placed the tray in the middle of them all. They immediately began to snack, keeping their mouths full so they wouldn't have to talk. It went on like this for awhile.

"My sister won't be home until midnight." Alice finally said, nibbling on a carrot stick. "She got a late shift at the hospital."

"Well, that's okay." Eilonwy said, shrugging. "We'll be asleep by then, any way..."

"You're sure it won't bother you if Peter stops by?" Wendy asked Alice. "I just really need him right now..."

"And Taran..." Eilonwy put in.

Alice laughed lightly and said, "Of course, guys. It's not like I'm not used to being the fifth wheel..."

They both gave her sympathetic looks and she laughed again.

"I'm joking, guys. It's really fine."

There was a strange popping sound and then a whine as all the lights went out. The three girls sat stunned in the eerie silence of the suddenly darkened house, letting their eyes adjust, listening for the slightest sound that might hint at what had just happened.

"Has there been a blackout?" Wendy whispered.

Alice got up and carefully walked toward her window, gazing out at her neighbor's home. "No, the neighbors still have power..." She murmured. Then she sighed and started to search for her shoes. "Must be something wrong with the fuse box..."

"You're gonna go check it out?" Eilonwy asked skeptically.

"Yup." Alice replied simply, finding her favorite black flats and pulling them on. "It'll only take a second. This happens sometimes."

"You don't want us to come with you?" Wendy asked.

"Nah, there's no need for you to bother. Just wait up here and relax. I'll be right back." Alice assured them, heading toward the door.

"Okay... Well, be careful going down the stairs." Eilonwy warned.

"I'll get a flashlight from the hall closet..." Alice muttered as she walked out. The other two girls sat in silence and listened to her footsteps. They heard a door creak open, presumably the hall closet door, and then saw the faint glow of the aforementioned flashlight illuminate the hallway. As Alice's footsteps faded down the stairs and the light disappeared, Eilonwy sighed.

"I hope it really is quick." Eilonwy murmured.

"Yeah." Wendy whispered back. She nodded her head in agreement, although Eilonwy probably couldn't see her.

Alice got to the foot of the staircase and cast her flashlight about in front of her feet. She turned the corner to head out the back door and go outside to the backyard, leaving the back door open. Once outside, she walked around to the side of the house and came up to the fuse box. She kept her flashlight trained on the box as she popped it open to reveal a series if switches. She squinted to try to read what the faded letters labeling each switch said.

She heard a crackling sound behind her and felt all the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Before she could turn around to investigate, a blow to the back of her skull knocked her senseless. With a grunt, she fell to her knees and then sprawled forward onto the grass. The impact knocked the wind out of her, and the pain in the back of her head was making her vision clouded with red, while vibrant white spots danced before her widened eyes. There was a high-pitched whistling in her head; She'd been deafened, as well. She struggled to turn over onto her back and tried to look up at her assailant.

Before she could get a good look, the vague, shadowy figure of a faceless man brought a brick down on her face. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She feebly reached up to try to protect herself from another blow, but it was a futile effort. The man used one mighty, gloved hand to pin both of her arms above her head on the ground, and used his other hand to repeatedly bring the heavy, blunt brick down on her head, over and over...

When he was done, he left her lifeless body there on the ground, along with the brick. But he took her flashlight.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Eilonwy was growing impatient.

"You know, I bet she needs help. Alice hasn't always been the most tech-savvy person." She stood up and pulled on her own shoes. "You wanna come with?"

"Nah..."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'd rather stay inside. Besides, the guys should be here any moment. I'll listen for them and let them in the front if you guys are still busy outside."

"Alright, if you insist." Eilonwy said. "We'll be right back."

"Watch the stairs." Wendy called as Eilonwy walked out.

Eilonwy carefully tiptoed down the stairs, gripping the banister with both hands and warily moving downward. She frowned as she neared the bottom of the stairs and could make out a faint glow around the corner, coming from the hall that led to the back door. She hopped off the bottom step and turned the corner, surprised to see Alice's flashlight just sitting on the ground in the little hall. Eilonwy rolled her eyes as she walked toward the flashlight, stooping down to pick it up.

"Alice, are you really trying to prank us?" Eilonwy called into the darkness, waving the flashlight toward any possible hiding spots. "You've never been any good at pranks, you know..." She quickly scanned the area, then narrowed her eyes on the hall door. It led to the basement, and was left open just a crack, seeming to beckon her to enter. She scoffed and rolled her eyes as she approached the door. "Typical... You know, I should just close this door... If you like playing in the basement so much, I'll just lock you in." Eilonwy teased. She waited for Alice to come rushing out, begging for mercy, but there was no response. Eilonwy shrugged. "Alright. I'm coming after you, then..."

She pulled the door open and let the flashlight shine into the pitch blackness for a moment. Then she stepped inside so that she stood at the top of the basement stairs. She couldn't see a single thing past the foot of the stairs. Eilonwy started to feel uneasy; Alice sure did know how to use environments when it came to setting up pranks...

"Alice, enough of this nonsense! Come up here now, okay? You _really _don't want me to come down there..." She called down the stairs.

There was no response.

"Alice?"

She waited for a moment. Still nothing. Not even a hint of movement.

"Fine, then! I'm not coming down there! Poor Wendy is waiting upstairs in the dark. I'll just go deal with the fuse box..."

She turned to storm out, but ran into something massive and solid, almost as if a wall had suddenly sprung into being where the door used to be. She looked up, dazed, and before she had a chance to scream, a figure shrouded in black pushed out two sturdy arms and shoved her backward. She threw out her arms in a panic as she lost her footing, and cried out as she fell down the stairs. It was the last sound she made, however; She tumbled down to the bottom of the steps and landed at the most unfortunate angle. When she didn't scream in pain or cry for help, the man retrieved the flashlight she had dropped and took the stairs to at a time to get to her mangled body. Her pale eyes gazed blindly up at him. Her neck had snapped about halfway down the stairs. Feeling a little disappointed in not being able to claim this life himself, he shut off the flashlight and tossed it away, then plucked up her body.

Wendy had heard Eilonwy cry out, and then the overwhelming silence afterward. She was paralyzed by fear, unable to even blink. She forced herself to try to calm down, figuring that her friends were just trying to play an awful prank on her. But her heart still raced as she slowly stood up, facing the darkened hallway outside Alice's bedroom door.

"Eilonwy?" She called out, her voice much shaker than she'd expected it to be. She bit her lip as she waited for a response.

There was nothing.

"Eilonwy, are you alright?" She tried again, her voice a bit steadier now. She waited a few moments. The silence filled her up so that her whole body was tense, wound up tight like a spring, ready to jump at the slightest provocation.

Still nothing.

Wendy took a few shaky breaths as she slowly approached the doorway. She warily peered out into the darkness, looking from one end of the hall to the other. She could hardly see anything, aside from making out vague and blurry shapes and lines. She squinted at the staircase and tiptoed toward it, gripping the banister with one hand and using the other to grasp at the air around her and feel for anything unusual, as well as keep her balance while she tried to control her clumsy feet. She was shaking slightly as she carefully descended the stairs, keeping her eyes focused on the steps ahead of her. When she finally got to the bottom of the steps, she sighed in relief and looked around for Eilonwy.

"Eilonwy?" She called again in vain. "Are you okay?"

Still no response. Wendy whined and called out, "If you guys are trying to scare me, please stop! Honestly, this is in such poor taste! I thought you were supposed to be my friends..." She groaned and ran her hands over her face in frustration. She took a moment to collect herself, keeping herself from crying. Then, she took a deep breath and decided to check the backyard. Even if they weren't out there, she could at least see this fuse box for herself.

She walked briskly to the back door and reached out to turn the door knob. Unfortunately, she had no idea that opening the door would trip a wire that would start the nightmare that would be her life for the next few moments. Wendy was stunned when a heavy mass of cloth and skin and hair flew down from the awning above her head and bumped into her head-on. She backed up, blinking rapidly, and a scream tore out of her throat, for her brain had registered what had hit her before she consciously could.

Eilonwy hung upside-down in the doorway, blocking her way to the backyard, with her neck twisted all the way around so that her head was on backward. There were bumps, scratches and bruises all over her, and her long blonde hair was wild and a few strands were matted against the bloody cuts in her face and neck.

Wendy continued to scream as she backed away, completely shocked. In a panic, she whipped around and ran toward the front door of the house. She frantically worked to unlock the door, her vision blurred by tears since she was sobbing uncontrollably now. She cried out in the relief when she heard the _slick _of the lock releasing and she didn't hesitate to fling the door open. But then she saw the blurry form of Alice's pretty blue sundress come rushing toward her from above and she jumped back with a shriek. And when she saw the bloody, pulpy mess that had been left of Alice's face, she continued to scream and back away till she stood in the middle of the living room, cast in the pale moonlight that reached toward her from the large window there, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Alice's normally glossy blonde hair was caked with dirt and blood, and the thick red liquid was still oozing from where Alice's face used to be and dripping onto the tile ground below with audible plopping sounds.

Wendy shook her head and gripped at her hair in terror. She was trapped between the corpses of her two best friends. Her screams were only paused by sobbing and whimpering that she couldn't control; She could barely breathe.

"No... _No! _" She continued to shriek, as though that would magically make this all stop hapoening; Like it would reset everything. As if it would make her wake up from this horrible nightmare and find Alice and Eilonwy at her side, asking why she was screaming and trying to fix it.

She heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, which was to her left. She turned and saw nothing but blackness there. She was still sobbing and panting in terror, her eyes wide as she searched the darkness for whoever was doing this to her. She almost broke down when minutes seemed to pass without her finding anything. Then she heard a sound like metal being scraped and gasped. Slow, heavy footsteps approached. First, she saw a pair of large black boots come forth from the darkness. The next thing she saw was the silvery blade of a kitchen knife glimmering in the moonlight.

Wendy screamed again and ran in the direction of the back door. The two closest things to her were the staircase that would take her back upstairs or the basement door. Which one could she take? How would she escape?

As it turned out, her decision didn't matter. She felt a giant palm shove itself between her shoulder blades, sending her body surging forward. She cried out in terror and as the stair banister raced toward her face. Her nose crashed against it and her screams were stopped short. The stunned Wendy bounced off the banister and fell against the hall floor. Her breathing was labored and every breath caused a burning pain to course through her face and shoulders and lungs. Her stomach lurched and she thought she might vomit. She was silently crying, using up what little breath she had to convey her anguish. Her heart sank as she heard those heavy, methodical footsteps draw closer and closer from behind her.

She pulled herself up onto her elbows and glanced back over her shoulder. The man was moving as slowly as posdible, drawing this out, toying with her, making her suffer. Wendy turned over on her back and let out a broken sob, pulling herself backward toward the door where Eilonwy was hanging, inch by inch. The man watched her and tilted his head slightly, holding the knife up higher in front of him. She shook her head and tried to beg, but the fall had broken her jaw and all that escaped her throat were short bursts of inhuman sound. Wendy continued to man and whimper like a wounded animal. When she felt the shadow of Eilonwy's body fall over her, she made the mistake of looking up. Seeing Eilonwy's hair floating just an inch above her head, feeling no warmth radiate from her still, pale corpse, ripped an inhuman wail from Wendy's throat.

The man knelt down on top of her now, straddling her tiny form and hovering over her in a manner that wasn't necessarily menacing. He wasn't trying to scare her any more; He gad won. They both knew what was going to happen now. He lifted the knife up high above her. Wendy stared up at it and managed one Las cry before he slit her throat with it. She gasped and gurgle as she was strangled by her own blood. He lifted the knife again and brought it down to pierce her collarbone. Wendy let out her last few wheezing breaths as he repeated lifted the knife and continually brought it down on her neck, her chest, slipping it between her ribs, puncturing her abdomen. She was dead long before he was done.

When he was finally satisfied, he dropped the knife and stood up, staring down at Wendy's body. He slowly turned his head to look at the bodies of the other two girls, nodding to himself. He was proud of his work. He then went and let the two girls that hung in the doorways collapse to the ground, and dragged the three bodies out to the front porch for their final placement. Once everything was set up perfectly, he made a silent exit through the house and out the backyard.

Ten minutes later, Peter and Taran were coming up the driveway, chatting casually. Then Taran looked toward the front porch of Alice's house and frowned.

"What are the girls doing outside?" He wondered aloud.

Peter followed his gaze and shrugged as they continued to walk. But as the boys drew closer, the sight of the girls made all the blood drain from their faces. They stood on the lawn in front of the porch and stared at the three dead girls who had been carefully positioned to look like they were seated casually on the patio furniture.

"Oh... Oh, my God..." Taran mumbled, his words barely audible due to his numb lips.

"Holy shit!" Peter hissed. "I to call Mary... Call 911." He saw Taran's shocked expression and realized that he hadn't heard him and wasn't moving to do as instructed. "Taran! Call 911!"

Taran nodded and pulled out his phone with shaky hands. He struggled to dial the simple three digits and then brought the phone up to his ear.

There was a single ring, and then a click.

_"911, what's your emergency?"_

"Hello..." Taran murmured, his eyes fixed on Eilonwy's. "We... We need help."

_"What's your emergency, sir?"_

"My girlfriend... And two of my best friends... They're..." He choked on a sob. "They're..."

_"Sir?"_

Taran took a deep, trembling breath.

"They've been murdered." He spat out.


	2. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**OMIGOOOOOOOSH TYPOS.**

**I'm so sorry about all the misspellings and nonsensical grammar in the prologue... Not only was auto correct working against me, it was also very late at night as I was writing and I was working a little faster than I probably should have been. Sorry!**

**Though I honestly doubt that a lot of people will be reading this story; There are very few of you who like to humor me when I deviate from writing my Disney High fic, since that one is **_**so close **_**to finished. Still, thank you to everyone who's viewed so far. I'm glad some folks are willing to put up with me. ^.^**

**But I'll mostly be writing this story for myself. I really wanted to try out a different genre, and my personal favorite movie genre is horror, so I thought, "Hey, why not?" I do think this fic will be incredibly fun, but it won't be a priority. At least not until the Disney High fic is done. And by then I'll have, like, five other Disney fics to keep myself entertained with. And after that, I'll really have to find another fandom to write for, because all this Disney is really going to my head...**

**Any way, just wanted to say sorry and thank you and let you know what's up. Hopefully you enjoyed the prologue, in spite of the terrible amount of typos. And, just to let you know, the prologue is probably going to be the most graphic chapter in the whole story. I live to entertain, not disgust. But a little good old-fashioned blood and gore never hurt any one, right?**

**Until next time, **_**C.B.**_


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